Oject United Nations Organization

The creation of the UNO

The efforts of the League of Nations did not succeed in removing the major obstacles to peace
which occurred in the early 30s and to finish, it was powerless in the face of the Second World
War.The concept of a peaceful community of nations was one that was firmly embedded in the
minds of leaders at the time, and it was on the 1st January 1942 when the President of the United
States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, coined the term United Nations as a successor to the League of
nations
On January 1, 1942, representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers met
in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations endorsing the Atlantic Charter,
pledging to use their full resources against the Axis and agreeing not to make a separate peace.

At the Quebec Conference in August 1943, a declaration was drafter that included a call for a
general international organization, based on the principle sovereign equality of all nations. An
agreed declaration was issued after a Foreign Ministers Conference in Moscow in October 1943.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran, in
November 1943, he proposed an international organization comprising an assembly of all
member states and a 10-member executive committee to discuss social and economic issues. It
was also agreed that the United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and China would enforce
peace as the four policemen.A set of task-oriented organizations were founded by the allied
representatives: the Food and Agricultural Organization (May 1943), the United Nations Relief
and Rehabilitation Administration (November 1943), the United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (April 1944), the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
(July 1944), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (November 1944).
Representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco April-June 1945 to complete the Charter of
the United Nations, the drafting of which had started in August, September 1944. In addition to
the General Assembly of all member states and a Security Council of 5 permanent and 6 non-
permanent members, the Charter provided for an 18-member Economic and Social Council, an
International Court of Justice, a Trusteeship Council to oversee certain colonial territories, and a
Secretariat under a Secretary General.

The United Nations came into existence on October 24, 1945, after 29 nations had ratified the
Charter. Dissolved at a final Assembly held in Geneva in April 1946, the League of Nations
handed over its properties and assets to the United Nations Organization.
The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations and includes all its
Members. It may discuss any matter arising under the UN Charter and make recommendations to
UN Members (except on disputes or situations which are being considered by the Security
Council). In the Assembly, each nation, large or small, has one vote and important decisions are
taken by a two-thirds majority vote. The Assembly meets every year from September to
December. Special sessions may be summoned by the Assembly, at the request of the Security
Council, or at the request of a majority of UN Members.

The work of the General Assembly is also carried out by its six main committees, the Human
Rights Council, other subsidiary bodies and the UN Secretariat.

The Security Council

The Security Council has primary responsibility under the Charter for maintaining peace and
security. It can be convened at any time, whenever peace is threatened. Member States are
obligated to carry out its decisions. When a threat to peace is brought before the Council, it
usually first asks the parties to reach agreement by peaceful means. If fighting breaks out, the
Council tries to secure a ceasefire. It may then send peacekeeping missions to troubled areas or
call for economic sanctions and embargoes to restore peace.

The Council has 15 members, including five permanent members: China, France, the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The other 10 are elected by
the General Assembly on the basis of geographical representation for two-year terms. Decisions
require nine votes; except on procedural questions, a decision cannot be taken if there is a
negative vote by a permanent member (known as the veto). The Council also makes
recommendations to the General Assembly on the appointment of a new Secretary-General and
on the admission of new members to the UN. Many countries want to expand the membership of
the Council to include new permanent and non-permanent members.
The Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the central body for coordinating the economic
and social work of the United Nations and the UN family of organizations. It has 54 member
nations elected from all regions. As much as 70 per cent of the work of the UN system is devoted
to promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social
progress and development. The Council recommends and directs activities aimed at promoting
economic growth of developing countries, supporting human rights and fostering world
cooperation to fight poverty and under-development.

To meet specific needs, the General Assembly has set up a number of specialized agencies, such
as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
and programmes such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Childrens Fund
(UNICEF) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The work of
these agencies and programmes is coordinated by ECOSOC.

The Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was assigned under the UN Charter to supervise the administration of
Trust Territories former colonies or dependent territories which were placed under the
International Trusteeship System. The system was created at the end of the Second World War to
promote the advancement of the inhabitants of those dependent Territories and their progressive
development towards self-government or independence.

Since the creation of the Trusteeship Council, more than 70 colonial Territories, including all of
the original 11 Trust Territories, have attained independence with the help of the United Nations.
As a result, in 1994, the Council decided formally to suspend its operation and to meet as and
when occasion might require.

The International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the UNs main judicial organ. Presiding over the ICJ,
or World Court, are 15 judges, each from a different nation, elected by the General Assembly
and Security Council. The Court settles legal disputes between nations only and not between
individuals, in accordance with international law. If a country does not wish to take part in a
proceeding it does not have to do so, unless required by special treaty provisions. Once a country
accepts the Court's jurisdiction, it must comply with its decision.

The seat of the International Court of Justice is at The Hague in the Netherlands. The offices of
the Court occupy the Peace Palace, which was constructed by the Carnegie Foundation, a
private non-profit organization, to serve as the headquarters of the Permanent Court of
International Justice, the predecessor of the present Court. The UN makes an annual contribution
to the Foundation for the use of the building.

The Secretariat

The Secretariat is made up of an international staff working at UN Headquarters in New York, as

well as UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi and other locations. It consists of departments
and offices with a total staff of around 16,000, drawn from some 175 countries. Including civil
staff in peacekeeping missions the total number comprises approximately 30,000 staff. Staff
members carry out the substantive and administrative work of the United Nations as directed by
the General Assembly, the Security Council and the other organs.

The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General. He is appointed by the General Assembly on

the recommendation of the Security Council for a five-year term. As the chief administrative
officer of the Organization, the Secretary-General directs its work. He is also responsible for
implementing decisions taken by the various organs of the United Nations.

The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in
his opinion, may threaten international peace and security. He may use his good offices to
prevent conflicts or promote peaceful settlement of disputes between countries. The Secretary-
General may also act on his own initiative to deal with humanitarian or other problems of special
importance.
There have been only eight Secretaries-General since the founding of the UN:

1. Trygve Lie (Norway), 1946-1952

2. Dag Hammarskjld (Sweden), 1953-1961
3. U Thant (Burma, now Myanmar), 1961-1971
4. Kurt Waldheim (Austria), 1972-1981
5. Javier Prez de Cullar (Peru), 1982-1991
6. Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt), 1992-1996
7. Kofi Annan (Ghana), 1997-2006
8. Ban Ki-moon (Republic of Korea), since 2007Korea), since 2007.

EVOLVING ROLE OF UN

The United Nations came into being in 1945, when 51 member nations agreed to form an
organization to promote world peace and justice and to push for better living standards for
people around the world. In the years following its formation, it became a forum for mediating
Cold War disputes between the United States and the Soviet Union. It also could play a military
function as well, as UN intervention in Korea demonstrated. The UN also encouraged the
decolonization of African and Asian nations, and attempted to manage the conflicts that emerged
in some of these countries.

Over the years, the most visible role of the UN has been in the area of "peacekeeping," which is
actually not called for in its original charter but has always been a major priority. UN forces have
been deployed as observers and peacekeepers in war-torn regions from Palestine to Rwanda. In
recent years, these interventions have mostly centered on civil conflicts, and have aroused much
controversy. Some have argued that the UN has been too heavy-handed in these interventions,
others that the troops deployed by the organization lack the firepower and the legal authority to
make a serious difference. Many also question the UN's support for invasions of nations by other
nations, particularly the United States.
 As the recent crisis in Syria has demonstrated, another related problem facing the UN when it
comes to foreign intervention is the fact that one nation (Russia) on the Security Council can
veto any intervention. Today, the United Nations has expanded its membership to almost 200
nations, and its role have expanded to include world law enforcement, negotiating loans to
developing nations, managing global environmental issues, and combatting terrorism.

SC AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Over the past quarter of a century or so, the Security Council has indeed significantly changed its
attitude to human rights. From largely keeping human rights outside its scope, the Security
Council today sees human rights as an important factor in the situations it is striving to address.
Most missions created or authorised by the Council now have various human rights tasks in their
mandates, and most missions have substantive human rights capacities or components. In
addition, the Council has used or developed an impressive range of toolssuch as commissions
of inquiry, judicial mechanisms, visiting missions or sanctionsto achieve goals with an impact
on human rights in different parts of the world.

UN CONTRIBUTION TO

1) WORLD PEACE

Some IR scholars argue that the sort of peacekeeping efforts outlined above are not the important
ones. These scholars say that such organizations can never do much to ensure peace through
peacekeeping.

Instead, they say, the UN helps to keep the peace through such things as UNICEF and the World
Health Organization. These types of organizations help keep peace in the following ways:

They help to reduce the conditions that might lead to war. In other words, by improving the
material lives of people in various countries, these organizations hope to make the countries
more prosperous, more stable, and less likely to go to war.
They help to build ties between various countries. IR scholars of this school of thought
emphasize that the UN helps keep peace simply by tying the various countries together at a
variety of levels. The more chances that (for example) the US and China have to work together
on issues like health, the more connections are built between the two countries and the less likely
they are to go to war.

These IR scholars, then, hold that the UN keeps the peace more through these roundabout ways
than through peacekeepers and collective security.

2)
3)

UN REFORM :

UN reform is endlessly discussed, but there is sharp disagreement on what kind of reform is
needed and for what purpose. Foundations, think tanks and blue ribbon commissions regularly
call for institutional renovation. Secretary Generals trumpet their reform initiatives. NGOs
make earnest proposals. And from Washington come somber warnings that the UN must
"reform or die."

UN reform is not a politically neutral, technocratic exercise. Bids for power and privilege lurk in
every proposal. Many experts would like to see a stronger and more effective multilateral
organization, but the mightiest governments are usually opposed to a robust institution, and they
often use their power to block change.

In the UN's earlier years, reform came in waves, with cycles of about a decade. Today, reform
activities seem never to stop. The site posts some usefulIntroductory Material. It also
considers indepth such issues as Security Council Reform, a topic that has been debated at the
UN since 1993. We also look at the reform of other major UN organs, such as the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly, both seriously in need of
renovation.

Recently, the Human Rights Commission was transformed

into The Human Rights Council and a newPeacebuilding Commission was
born. Management Reform constantly revises the organization chart in the name of efficiency.
Among, the latest reform topics is Peacekeeping Reform, a broad area that includes incremental
changes and even large leaps such as the proposed creation of a UN Standing Force.

Another popular reform topic today is the improved coordination and "Coherence" of the UN's
many agencies, funds, programs, departments, research institute and other bodies. Though
efficiency may result, there is the danger that "one voice" may stifle creativity and enforce
conservative policies.

The site looks at the Millennium+5 reforms, proposed by the Secretary General Kofi Annan in
March 2005, a process that was weakened by complex negotiations and last-minute demands
from Washington. The site also posts General Analysis of UN reform topics more broadly.
Reform initiatives have also targeted NGOs and their role at the UN, not always positively. The
controversial Cardoso Report promoted roundtables and "hearings," with carefully-selected NGO
actors, to replace a more open process. In contrast to shrinking NGO space, the UN has rapidly
expanded its relations with Business, through numerous "partnerships" and a high-profile
"compact."

Financing of the UN is central to UN reform. The UN cannot perform effectively as long as its
budget remains tightly constrained. For all the talk about auditors and oversight bodies, the UN
mainly needs cash. Financial reforms must consider new ways to raise funds, including
"alternative financing" such as Global Taxes.

Finally, the site provides links and resources for further research on every aspect of UN reform.

Indias bid to get a permanent seat in the UNSC

Why is India not a permanent member of the UNSecurity Council?At the time the United
Nationswas formed, itsimply wasn't an independent nation, nor was it anywhere near powerful
Or influential enough even if It had been.The point of having permanent membership in the UN
Security Councilis to give the Security Council somesort of foundation that provided for both.
The ability to act and the ability to maintain order.While there is no requirement for a
permanent member of the Security Council to have nuclear weapons,there is a requirement,
albeit an implicitone, that the permanent members are to a certain extent strong (ina
militaristicsense),economically vibrant,and capableofdisplay so if international influence.

Duringthe1940's India would not have metany of thesecriteria.

Sowhy not now? India is still not powerful enough,itseconomy is not close to being on par.
with the other permanent members, and simply addinganother country(and thus adding another
veto)wouldmake things very complicated.India's case is probably nostronger or weaker than the
other three countries that arealso talked about when discussing Security
Councilreforms:Germany,Japan,andBrazil.

While few countries contribute more peace keepers thanIndia,onlytheUnited Statescontributes

moremoneytofundthe United Nations than Japan(2nd)and Germany(3rd);Brazilalsomorethan
doublesIndia'sfinancialcontributions.Of the permanentmembersonlyRussiaiscurrentlyoutsidethe
top 10 contributes of UN funding,andIndiacontributes far less than them.
WhileIndia may represent an under represented region(Southern Asia and the Islamicnations),
Brazil represents a relatively unrepresented region. Asia,in addition toChina,gets two additional
rotating members on theSecurity Council and Arab countries also give Asia a thirdseat every
two years.Brazil'sregion(South Americaspecifically,and Latin America more generally)gets two
seats on the security council and has to share these at with the Caribbeannations, diluting South
America'sability to regionally advocate for itself(theCaribbeannation stend to be more pro-
American than pro-SouthAmerican).
All four countries have received the backing of FranceandtheUnitedKingdom, whileRussia
also supports BrazilandGermany.

So,again,why not India?WellIndia,out of the currentpermanent members and the countries